Assassin's Way
by Sihaya
Summary: Difficulties arise when a Death Eater assassin is sent to Hogwarts to take out Harry Potter once and for all.
1. xxx Ghost

Assassin's Way 

Chapter One: Ghost 

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter, etc, belongs to JK Rowling. I got Azera's name from Daughters of the Moon: The Choice by Lynne Ewing. 

               "It's good to see you well, my Lord," a lithe, brown haired sixteen year old said as she bowed her head in reverence to Lord Voldemort.

"I have an assignment for you," came the voice from behind the hood of his long, draping black robe.

"Just tell me what to do," she said, fingering the dagger hidden beneath her cloak with anticipation, "and it shall be done."

"Marcus," the Dark Lord said, beckoning a skinny pale boy with deep-set eyes out from the shadows. "Show the Lady Azera her rooms," he said, sliding a heavy-looking black out from under his robes. He handed it to his aide. Azera bowed her head once more and pulled her hood up over her head, shadowing her features. As she followed the boy through as maze of dungeon passageways, she unsheathed her dagger. She did not trust this boy. 

               He drew a ring of keys out from his sleeve and fitted one in. Azera walked forward and stood just inside the doorway. She scanned the parts of the room that were visible from the doorway, her eyes instinctively darting into corners and shadows. She held out the hand that wasn't clutching the hilt of her dagger to the aide. "My key," she said. The boy seemed to hesitate. Azera let him see a sudden glint of dagger, but when he looked closer, it was gone. "I am a ghost," she whispered to him as he placed the key in her hand. Her fingers closed firmly around it as she re-sheathed her blade and shut the door. As soon as she was sure that Marcus had gone, she drew out her wand and made a duplicate of the key. She hid both before that silly boy could realize his mistake.

               As she had expected, there was a knock on her door a moment later. Marcus stood outside, his hesitance at knocking on an assassin's door hidden behind a ridiculous brave façade. "Your briefing," he said, stepping inter her room as he drew out the package that the Dark Lord had handed him before. It was a bold move, stepping in uninvited like that. As Azera took off her cloak, she glimpsed the Dark Mark branded upon Marcus's arm. Her own arm remained clean- she couldn't deceive her enemy very well if she was proudly bearing a Dark Mark now, could she?

               "Your target," Marcus began, running his fingers along the velvet in his hands, "is Harry Potter."

               "Yes, I was wondering when they were going to get around to him," said Azera lightly, ceasing the examination of her fingernails just long enough to remove the dagger's sheath from around her waist. "Go on."

               "You are to kill him with this," Marcus said, thrusting the package into Azera's hands. She caught Marcus's gaze for a moment. Her eyes narrowed. He knew what it was. Azera's nimble fingers pulled apart the drawstring ends of the pouch and reached inside. Her fingers touched cold metal. She grasped the end of the object firmly with one hand as she drew the velvet off smoothly in one swift tug. It was a sheathed silver sword, decorated with green stones. Azera unsheathed the sword, tossed it into the air, and caught it by the hilt, letting the blade come dangerously close to Marcus's nose. He flinched.

               "What, is good old Avada Kedavra not working for him anymore?" Azera asked, testing the weight of the weapon with a few practice swings.

               "This is the sword of Slytherin," Marcus said.

               "I can see that," Azera scoffed.

               "Well, he said, losing patience, "this is what you are to use to kill Potter. It is what the Dark Lord wishes."

               Azera shrugged and slid the sword back into the sheath. "And how am I to get even remotely close to Potter?" she asked, sliding the sword onto the table that she stood next to.

               "We've enrolled you in the sixth-year class at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," Marcus said. "You will go there, dispose of Potter, and disappear. Potter's friends are your friends, and his enemies are your enemies. Do what you have to do."

               Azera blinked. It sounded like an easy enough mission to complete. Her sixteen years boasted more slaughter than most Auror's had seen and she was more skilled with wand and sword than any Defense Against the Dark Arts adept. She was an assassin.

               She was a ghost.

R/R!!! 


	2. xxx Skin

Assassin's Way Chapter Two: Skin 

**A/N**: Thank you, my reviewers! I love you all! And I will try not to space out the paragraphs so much in this chapter J

Any helpful comments are welcome! Please review! Don't read the whole thing and then not let me know what you think of it! 

**Disclaimer: **::: blah blah blah::: 

                As it was not safe for even the Death Eaters to know who she was, or what she was doing rooming in the fortress of the Dark Lord himself, Azera stalked the halls of the dank prison in disguise. She would don the cloak of the standard Death Eater or servant, always keeping her face hidden, but her ears stayed open for news from the world outside. It would be useful to know these things when she departed from the fortress to begin her mission. The unusual sword was always burning in the back of her mind, serving for some strange purpose of revenge. When Potter's death befell him, more than one enemy would defeat him.

               The Malfoys were always frequent guests in the house of the Dark Lord, and Azera took to watching the younger one, Draco, in secret. She knew some things about him- he hated Potter, he was good with women, and he would be in the same year as her when she left the confines of the court and went to Hogwarts. It was all the more important to keep her face hidden from him, and although he noticed her figure and her mysterious aura, he was never allowed to come close. The game of cat and mouse that they frequently resorted to play tired both of them after a while, and Azera took greater measures to hide her person from prying Malfoy eyes. There would be time enough for them when this was completed. 

               Azera took to practicing with the sword in the confines of her room, leaving her favorite dagger to grow dusty in its place on the small dresser table that she was provided with. She found the antique weapon too bulky for her taste, but it was manageable enough to get the job done. She polished the blade late the night before she left to go to Diagon Alley for her robes and books and things. She had received a letter in the mail from a Minerva McGonagall welcoming her to Hogwarts and telling her the supplies that she would need. It was Azera's gathering that the deputy headmistress would get in her way, and she vowed to keep her distance from this woman. 

               It took Azera ten minutes to pack up all her belongings into a small bag and depart eagerly from the fortress with the Dark Lord's blessing. The sky was overcast and gray as she hopped onto her broom and swung an Invisibility Cloak around her body and her belongings. As she kicked off, she glanced back. Marcus was standing at one of the ground floor windows, as if he had been watching her. 

               Diagon Alley came into view after a day's worth of flying, and next to it, the more familiar Knockturn Alley. Azera strode past the alley entrance without a look back, as if she did this every day. Being a good actress came in handy when you were an assassin. 

               As Azera already had all the money that she would ever need in her pocket, she strode into Madame Malkin's Robes For All Occasions. After an uncomfortable few moments of every inch of her body being measured, the robes were delivered and Azera gratefully exited the shop. She was even more grateful that she wouldn't have to go through getting a new wand. Part of having a job like Azera's was keeping things secret, and although she highly doubted to Madame Malkin would remember her measurements by the evening, it was always safer not to have many people knowing your physical attributes. 

               After flipping through all the textbooks that she would need for the coming year, Azera found that she had already learned and committed to memory most of the lessons in all of the books. She had had tutelage from some of the best Death Eater teachers for most of her life and had been practically forced to memorize lists of potions and their uses, spells and their defenses, and astronomy? Azera could point out every constellation in her hemisphere and make some decent predictions from their locations, too. It looked like the schoolwork would be a breeze, which was all the better since Azera needed to concentrate fully on the task at hand. 

               Azera paid a night's worth of sickles at the bar in the Leaky Cauldron and threw her purchases on the creaky bed in her room. She took a shower in the cold, brackish water that poured in abundance out of a rusty faucet and then packed her suitcase with her books and her robes. She tossed her favorite Muggle outfit onto the spindly chair that stood in front of the window so that she could dress quickly tomorrow. It was her good luck outfit. She had worn it when she disposed of a traitor Death Eater that was on the run. It was easy to get men to come to you when you were sitting outside a nightclub in a short skirt, stilettos, and a v-neck halter-top, and this one had been no different. This wizard had asked for a kiss, she had grabbed his hand and led him into a nearby alleyway, and before he could touch her the tip of her thestral heartstring wand was pointed at his chest. 'Goodbye,' she had said, sending a stream of strong green light directly into his heart. She lit the body on fire and burned it there in the alleyway.

               That had been her first mission. Now she was a vet assassin, and she always wore this outfit when she was undertaking a mission. She planned on making a bit of a stir at Hogwarts. Why go in quietly when you can go in with a bang?

               The next morning she stood on Platform 9 ¾ pulling her robes on over her clothes. She didn't bother clasping them as she bent down to grab her suitcase handle. Her wand brushed against the strip of bare abdomen that was showing between her skirt and her shirt and she was reminded of what she had to do. Azera wished this to be quick and easy, so she could show the world that she could defeat the only foe that the Dark Lord had not been able to overcome. Harry Potter was just a child compared to the hardened assassin that had been born the day before him. He would be no problem.

               She found an empty compartment on the train and sat down in the corner, watching people mill around on the platform. The drizzle turned into a downpour as the door to Azera's compartment slid open. Three males stood outside the door. Azera immediately identified one as the Malfoy that she had been briefly chased by at the fortress and gave him a sultry smile. The other two she classified as worthless goons, and she was right- their mouths hung open when they saw her, a girl that they had never seen before in a halter top and a miniskirt, no less, with her robes open over her clothes, sitting in the corner of their favorite compartment. Draco kept his cool, and then some, as he slid into the seat next to her. 

               "I'm Draco Malfoy," he said, his eyes glinting at the sight of new prey. One of the trolls cleared their throat. "These are Crabbe and Goyle," he said in a bored tone, waving his hands in the general direction of his practically drooling companions. "And you are…?"  
  


               "Azera Ceallach," she answered smoothly, shaking Draco's extended hand. She had decided on a surname before, picking the Celtic word for 'warrior maid.' Her thoughts were diverted momentarily by Draco's touch- he clasped both hands over hers and pulled her slightly closer. Slowly he entwined the fingers of his hand with hers. 

               "A pleasure," he said, grinning. The grin overshadowed a brief flash of emotion in his eyes, which Azera read as _Is she pureblood? _But the question plaguing Draco's mind was overcome by his obvious want of her. He just didn't care at the moment about her blood. 

               "The pleasure's all mine," she said, almost honestly, clasping his hands and then letting them go. "I'll see you later," she said promisingly. "I have to go, unfortunately," she whispered. "See you around."

               Draco was looking the most peaked that he had looked since he saw her in his compartment as she stepped outside, rather pleased with herself. She was going to have fun here at Hogwarts- she could tell.


	3. xxx Chameleon

Assassin's Way Chapter Three: Chameleon 

**A/N**: Review! REVIEW! I live off it…you wouldn't want me to die because you're not reviewing right?  Because then I couldn't write any more of my wonderful stories! o_O

Now for a little self-promotion J: If you happen to be a LOTR fan and like those AU Legomances, do me a favor and read my story Child of the Wood and it's sequel, The Lady of the Mirror because Child of the Wood is the only story I've ever finished and Lady of the Mirror is the only sequel I've ever written and I'd really appreciate it if you read them (after you read this of course)

**Disclaimer: **::: blah blah blah::: 

               Azera slid open the door to the nearest compartment and swept her gaze over the three chocolate-covered boys inside. They were swapping Chocolate Frog cards and paused mid-swap to turn their heads to look at the newcomer. Azera arranged her face in a friendly smile and sat down in the only vacant seat left. "Hey, I'm Azera," she said warmly, sticking her hand out. "I'm new here and if you could help me…"

               It seemed that even with her robes clasped and no skin showing, she had a strange effect on boys. The closest, cutest of the three shook her hand. "I'm Seamus," he said kindly, "and since these too are too peaked to introduce themselves, this is Dean Thomas and this here is Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you."

               "You too," Azera said. _Cute AND funny._

               "What year are you in?"

               "Your year, I think," she said, looking at the two mysteriously silent ones and judging them to be about her age. Her gaze rested coldly on Neville for a moment. Bellatrix had dealt with his parents, and the Longbottom surname was well known among the courtesans of the Dark Lord. Azera pulled her mind back to the present. "Sixth year?" 

               "Yeah!" said Seamus enthusiastically. "Cool, we haven't had anyone new in _ages _come here." 

               "Well, I was wondering if you could help me with something," said Azera, leaning closer to Seamus, who was sitting in the diagonal opposite of her own seat. Seamus leaned forward too. Azera smiled. "I heard that Harry Potter was in our year, and I'd like to speak with him for a moment. Do you know which compartment he's sitting in?"

               Seamus looked a little disappointed for a moment, but then his eyes cleared and he answered her question. "I dunno where he is, he usually sits near the back, though."

               "Thanks," Azera said, rising from her seat. "Catch you later," she added with a wink as she slid the glass door closed and pondered her next move as she compared what she wanted to do with what she should do.

               She _wanted _to go back to Draco's compartment and flirt with him some more- her female charms had grown rusty from disuse at the fortress of the Dark Lord and they could do with some polishing. But Draco would be there tomorrow, and it was her job to make sure that Harry Potter wouldn't be. Resigned to her task, Azera performed a listening charm on the wand itself and pressed the wand to the door of the nearest compartment. "Parvati!" an annoying voice wailed. She removed the tip of the wand from the door so she wouldn't have to listen to any more of that adolescent nonsense and continued down the luckily empty hallway. Azera stopped to listen a few feet down the hall. "You know, Cho, I really think you should go out with him, he's cute, he's funny…" the voice trailed off as Azera stopped to listen at the last door in the line. Still nothing. She continued up the opposite side of the door until finally-

               "I hope you'll be putting a tad more effort into your work this year, Harry, and you too, Ron, N.E.W.T.s are coming up and if you want to be Aurors you really are going to have to put in a little work." Azera let out a silent yet triumphant _"Yes!" _and drew an invisible hole in the compartment door so that she could watch. Harry sat there like a fish that had bitten the bait at least five or six times already and was more than willing to bite it again. He was with two people that were so obviously Weasleys that it was sickening, and a girl with bushy hair and prominent teeth that had been doing the talking.  

               Now that she knew that Harry was actually here, on the train, and she knew who his friends were, Azera had seen enough to satisfy the Death Eater inside enough to let herself go back and flirt with Draco some more. She happily walked back down the aisle and slid into Draco's compartment. He looked more than happy to see her. 

               "I told you I'd see you later," she said in a quiet, husky voice as she slid close to Draco on the seat. The goons were looking trollish as ever, and Azera would bet anything that they were taking mental notes under a misspelled mental heading: How to Catch Chicks. Azera shot them a sultry glare in response to her silent jab and then turned back to Draco. "You know, if you didn't gel your hair back so much," she whispered, toying with a strand that had fallen astray, "I could play with it more." Draco smirked and began playing with her fingers again. 

               "It's too bad you hadn't come to Hogwarts sooner," he said. "You look like someone I'd like to get to know."

               The train pulled into the station at Hogwarts as Azera made her reply, "There'll be plenty of time for that." She pulled her suitcase out from above the seat where she had left it. Draco took it gently from her hand. _So Malfoy's a gentleman, _she thought, _a deliciously evil gentleman. _She wondered how Draco would react when she was placed into Gryffindor, just like she planned. She would work it to her advantage- sneaking out to some deserted tower at midnight was so much better than seeing each other in the common room all day, every day. She would make him want to see her more. 

               The foursome walked together to one of the supposedly horseless carriages. Of course, Azera could see the thestrals clearer than she could see her own hand. She toyed with her thestral heartstring wand as she watched the horses nudge at the ground. "Can you see them?" Draco said softly in her ear as he walked behind her, his lips grazing her earlobe.

               "Yeah," she said, "I can see them. Beautiful creatures." Draco laughed softly and his breath tickled her neck as he pulled away. Azera could sense how much he wanted her. He was bad at hiding it.

               The trolls lumbered into the carriage first. The thestral pawed the ground at their immense bulk as Draco followed Azera inside. She placed the toe of her shoe lightly over his as the carriages began to roll up the hill towards the castle. Draco's face twisted in his trademark sexy smirk. He was delightfully fun to play with. 

               The castle loomed over Azera's head as she followed Draco up to the front doors. "Ceallach, Azera," barked a rough female voice.

               "McGonagall," Draco drawled. _Deputy headmistress, _Azera's mind told her as her mind connected the two phrases. 

               "I gotta go," Azera said apologetically, brushing his lips with a kiss as light as the wind stirred by the beating of butterfly wings. She could almost feel his heart dance in his chest as she eased her bag out of his hands and turned her back on him as she walked to the professor.

               "Miss Ceallach," said McGonagall in a business-like tone as she gazed over her spectacles to look at the newcomer's face. "Come with me, we have to Sort you before the first years get here." The professor walked away from the throng, and off one of the doors that led away from the Great Hall. Azera followed her to a rather neat but shabby looking office. A hat that had more patches than fabric was sitting on the desk. "Here we go," she said. Azera cleared her mind as she had been taught in her beginners Occlumency classes and filled her mind with Gryffindor-ish thoughts. The hat slipped over her ears and her eyes and rode halfway down the bridge of her nose before resting uncomfortably around her head. 

               _So, _the hat said, _what do we have here…I can see bravery…a bit of recklessness here and there…_

_               Gryffindor, _thought Azera. _Not Slytherin, not Slytherin…_ her voice even almost convinced her as she repeated the mantra in her head.

               _Not Slytherin, I see…maybe Ravenclaw…definitely not Hufflepuff…Gryffindor perhaps…so it's between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor…there's bravery there, more than anything else…you're brave but your intelligent too…and there's some wit…not much in here, strange… well, _the hat said, almost in a sigh, _I guess it better be _GRYFFINDOR!

               Relieved and tired from her mental battle with the hat, Azera tore it off her head and handed it gratefully to McGonagall. "Well," the professor said, "another welcome addition to my House. Ever played Quidditch?" she went on as she led Azera back to the Great Hall. "You ought to give the team a try, we could use a fresh player…" the professor walked up the Head Table as Azera caught Draco's eye from across his table. He beckoned her over with a wave of his hand amid many jealous stares from girls at the Slytherin table and some from the Ravenclaw table too. Azera went to him and sat sideways on his lap, just to make the girls angrier. 

               "I got put in Gryffindor," she said, weighing her voice with disappointment. "I'm sorry, Draco," she cooed, cupping his face comfortably in his hand. "We both know that I don't belong there," Azera continued. He fiddled with the clasp of her robe as she stood back up. "Meet me later," she said, "after dinner." Draco nodded and smiled and then turned back to the jealous Slytherin girls as Azera made her way over to the Gryffindor table.

               Luck of luck, there was a seat open next to the Potter boy! Azera walked over, trying not to seem like she was in a hurry. Instead, she arranged her face in the timid new-girl expression that she had worn before and smoothly took the seat next to Harry. 

               "Hi," the Weasley said. "I'm Ron. Good to meet you. What's your name?"

               "I'm Azera. Ceallach," she added as an afterthought after referring to herself as only Azera for so long. She found the surname a burden- she didn't have one for a reason.

               "I'm Hermione," said the same bushy-haired studious girl that had been sitting with Harry on the train. Azera inclined her head briefly to Hermione and then turned to Harry, her eyes making the characteristic dart up to his forehead.

               "Harry Potter," she said in an awe-stricken whisper, fighting not to burst out laughing. Maybe acting wasn't her strongest forte, but this was just ridiculous. 

               "Yeah, that's me," he said, obviously uncomfortable.

               "I'm sorry," she apologized, "You must get that all the time."

               "Yeah," he said again. _THIS is the boy that defeated the Dark Lord? _Azera's mind screamed, _the man of one 'yeah'?! _At least he seemed a tad grateful towards her that she had acknowledged his awkwardness. _You deserve that scar, boy_, Azera thought, momentarily forgetting that he was the same age that she was. She habitually thought of her peers as younger, more dimwitted, and more immature than her, mostly because they were except for the younger part. They were nothing like her. They were soft. They still thought that the carriages were horseless. 

               Idiots.

               The headmaster stood to give his welcoming speech, which Azera found increasingly boring. Then the food appeared, as if in some magnificent stunt. Azera sneered mentally at the trick. Even she could do better.

               Luckily, Harry got drunk on food like Azera did on alcohol, and he acted friendlier towards him with each passing moment. She snuck some flirting into their Quidditch discussion, touching his hand or his shoulder, but it wasn't the kind of flirting that she could do with Draco. First years could pull this kind off. She would need to take Harry to the next level with this _thing_ that she was trying to do. Azera needed to get under his skin. She would make him like her, if she had to pull out his fingernails and hers to get this mission done, Harry Potter would be dead by the end of the year.

               Harry might have been able to outwit her, but he wouldn't be able to escape Azera. He didn't even know that she was going to kill him. 

               Fool. 


	4. xxx Rave

Assassin's Way Chapter Four: Rave 

**A/N**: I'll give you a cookie if you review. No, not really.

**Disclaimer: **ditto last chapter…and the chapter before that…and the chapter before that…

               This was ridiculous.

               Azera stood behind her softly smoking cauldron ten minutes into double Potions making eyes at Draco across the room. She had mixed it up without looking at the directions even once. Amused, she glanced at the students surrounding her. Potter was still stuck on Step 2 and the boy next to her, Seamus, was on the verge of borrowing some of hers for the grading. Electric raindrops spewed over the rims of his cauldron, bubbling madly in some kind of liquid rave. 

               She kept her eyes trained on the professor of this class, Severus Snape. Azera knew that with one flick of her wand she could push Snape's sleeve up his arm to his elbow and reveal the ghost of the Dark Mark to the entire class. It had occurred to her that she could do away with Snape while she was here- kill two birds with one stone- but the Dark Lord had not told her to do so, and assassins always obeyed orders.

               Draco was still looking at her across the room. Azera rubbed her lips together and then smirked at him from over her cauldron. Snape was standing over Seamus's cauldron with a look of utter disgust on his face. She knew that when he came to her cauldron he would find absolutely nothing wrong. The professor peered down his greasy broken nose at the potion that slopped thickly against the sides of the standard pewter cauldron that Azera had bought on her escapade into Diagon Alley. The twin thin lips remained shut, he made a note on his notepad, and then he moved on to the Slytherin side of the room. Seamus was waging a war with his own cauldron, rereading the directions, and looking wistfully at Azera, hinting that she might tell him what he had done wrong. Azera decided to favor him. "You forgot Step 3," Azera said, pointing at the blackboard with her index finger. Seamus slapped himself on the head with the heel of his palm and emptied his cauldron into a basin. 

               "How'd you get your so quickly?" Seamus asked, beginning over.

               "I follow directions."  

               "Jeez," he said quietly, shaking his head as he poured half a cup of ground unicorn spine into his cauldron and squinted once more at the directions that were scraped in neat chalk onto the board. He stirred it thrice clockwise and twice counter-clockwise and than waited thirty seconds before adding three fibers of hippogriff hair. 

Azera's mind wandered as she waited out the rest of the class gazing at the bottled potion that sat in front of her. Wisps of smoke curled gracefully around the cork of the flask that sat in front of her. A bubble rose to the surface and popped. Smoke rose out of the depression that it rendered in the mixture, which had the consistency of a thick pudding. Her eyes swiveled over to Draco, who was tactfully ignoring a chubby Slytherin girl that was batting her eyelashes at him.

More prey for Azera. Sweet.

She sauntered over to where Draco stood, her eyes never leaving the pathetic girl's face. She curled her fingers of Draco's muscular shoulder and tapped the fingernail of her index finger against the side of his neck. "Is she bothering you?" Azera said in her favorite nasty-to-pathetic-people-but-playful-with-Draco tone of voice. The corner of his mouth rose in his trademark steamy grin as he turned towards her. The tips of their noses brushed together, and Draco tried to lean in for a kiss, but Azera decided to play hard to get instead. She pulled back slightly, gazing up at Draco through her long, dark eyelashes the whole time. "Maybe later," she said, stressing the maybe, and then turned back to the girl who was annoying her even though she hadn't spoken a word to Azera since she had arrived at Hogwarts. 

"You have no idea," Draco muttered, his gaze slipping from Azera to the other girl. "Her name is Pansy," he said, disgust ripping off his white teeth. 

"Pansy," Azera repeated. "Want me to take care of her?" she whispered flirtatiously into Draco's ear.

"How are you going to manage that?" Draco answered as Professor Snape glanced their way. He wasn't worried, though- he was Snape's favorite, and he got away with anything and everything where the Slytherin Head was concerned.          

"Well," Azera said, abandoning her hard to get game, "first your going to kiss me, then your going to put your hand around my waist, and then you are going to invite me to the Astronomy tower after hours," she finished boldly, ending with a little wink. For Draco's answer, a look was enough, paired with the evil half smile that he had been throwing Azera's way for the past week. He looked out of the corner of his eyes in Pansy's direction, and then he leaned down slowly. The tips of their noses grazed first, and Azera leaned her head into the motions of his- she was tired of leading for a little while. Their lips touched for a moment- long enough for Draco to touch the edge of his tongue to her bottom lip- and then he slid both arms around her waist as he gently pulled away. It was the softest, cleanest kiss that Azera had ever experienced in her entire life, but somehow that made it the dirtiest.

She felt him smile again as their lips parted, but his hold on her grew even stronger as he drew their bodies closer together. Azera giggled at the thought of how they looked, standing like that in the middle of the dungeon classroom, but then she remembered about Pansy and snuck a look her way. The foolish girl's mouth was hanging open at the fireworks going off in front of her, and Azera laughed again.

"Come to the Astronomy tower after dinner," Draco said, projecting his words in Pansy's direction as he traced Azera's jaw with the pads of his fingertips. Then he winked. Azera tilted her head towards him as if considering his proposal.

"Maybe," she said devilishly. Draco raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe?" he said. "Do you need some more persuasion?"

"Anytime," Azera answered, slipping gracefully out of his arms and floating back across the room. Her decision to live it up while she was here was definitely the right choice.

It was plain dumb luck that none of the Gryffindors had seen Azera kissing the hottest Slytherin on the planet in the corner of the Potions classroom. Although extremely understandable, she had to concentrate on becoming close to Harry and not to his worst nemesis. So, Azera decided to become closer to Hermione first, adopting her 'study first!' tactics and helping her study. In this way, she could tighten her forming knots with the comfortable threesome all at the same time. Azera also decided that the easiest place to get rid of Harry was to do it in Hogsmeade. She could lure him away from the crowd and take him behind the Shrieking Shack, and dispose of him there. The local legend could provide some kind of flimsy excuse so Azera wouldn't have to bother herself with planning some intricate scheme. She sent an owl to Marcus, the aide, at the Dark Lord's stronghold. She sealed it with a kiss and sent it with a midnight black owl into the night.

At midnight, Azera snuck out with her Invisibility Cloak and walked up to the Astronomy Tower. She eased the wooden door open and climbed the spiral staircase to the top, where circles of telescopes were pointed at the night sky. The last class had ended a half an hour ago, and the collected odors of the students still hung in the air. 

Draco was framed against the navy sky, his wet hair gleaming in the starlight. Azera smiled and bit her lip as she snuck up on Draco and planted her lips on his, still invisible. He reached forward and pulled off the cloak as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

"How does it feel to kiss someone that's not there?" she whispered, pulling away for a moment. 

Draco leaned in for more before resting his cheek on her open lips. "You're there, all right," he answered, "I just can't see you." He pulled the cloak around the two of them and they stayed that way while the moon made its way across the sky.

Draco was first to wake to the sun's delicate rays the next morning. His head was still resting in the lap of Azera's robes, and her fingers were still intertwined in his hair. She was right- it did look better when it wasn't slicked back with a ton of gel. Her head had fallen forward onto her chest and Draco reached up and tilted her face towards him. He kissed the sleeping figure slowly, and as she awoke she responded, quickening the pace of the kiss as the top of the sun became visible over the tops of the trees in the forest. 

"It's almost time for breakfast," he whispered, smoothing her hair out of her eyes. 

"You're so nice in the morning when you're tired," she said, already more awake than he was. Her eyes were clear and dancing with their usual fire where his were clouded with grogginess.

"You're the only person who's ever seen me like this," he said, putting his head back into her lap. Azera absentmindedly stroked his hair as she pondered the 'morning Draco.' He wasn't as evil as usual when he was too tired to hate people. Azera shrugged to herself and figured that she liked him both ways. They were both alike, Draco and Azera- they were both many-faceted persons. It was just that Azera chose her personality at will; whenever she wanted to she could become a new person. She was a feather in the wind, and the wind was going out of control.

Azera crash-landed back on her planet when she remembered her mission and how the girls would suspect if they didn't find her in her bed when they woke up in a few minutes. She eased Draco's head out of her lap and once more lowered her lips to his in a goodbye kiss. He propped himself up with his arm and raked her hair with his free hand. 

"I gotta go," she said, rising to her feet. "Maybe I can steal a few minutes of sleep in my actual bed before the other girls wake up."

Draco grinned the same old smirk and Azera felt a bit relieved. He hadn't gone all soft in a night on her, then.

               "Yeah," he agreed, "Pansy will worry…"

               "I think we took care of that yesterday," she answered as they walked down the last flight of spiral stairs. Draco laughed and bid her goodbye, and then they went their separate ways. Throwing on her Invisibility Cloak again, Azera climbed in the portrait hole and through the thankfully empty common room. The other girls that she was rooming with were still basically asleep, but Hermione was stirring so Azera slid into her bed as quietly as possible.

               She dreamt for a few minutes of Draco and blood, and then she woke to begin the day all over again as if nothing was wrong.


	5. xxx Trip

Assassin's Way Chapter Five: Trip 

**A/N**: OK, since I didn't get any reviews last chapter, I'm offering cake now! : Revieeeeeeeeeeew: 

**Disclaimer: **ditto last chapter…and the chapter before that…and the chapter before that…durg 

               The next day Azera took a 'day off' from Draco (even though it did include some sneaky snogging in the bathroom, wink wink) and returned to the common room for the next phase of the mission that she had dubbed Mission: So Possible. After helping Harry with his Charms essay, Azera took it upon herself to strike up a conversation. 

               "I heard you were really talented at Quidditch," she said, running her fingers through her conveniently long hair. "I can't wait to see you play." 

               Harry grinned, glad that she had warmed up to him and had lost some of the shyness that she had sported as the new girl in town. Although, he did find shyness rather appealing in a woman and was happy that Azera wasn't bold and raucous like some of the Slytherin girls. "You won't have to wait long," he said in a friendly tone. "Our match against Slytherin's coming up pretty soon. I can't wait to beat them!" he added. Although the slightly adoring look in her eyes never faltered for a moment, a voice in the back of Azera's mind chimed in, _Let's see who beats who._

 "What kind of a broom have you got?" she asked interestedly. Harry's eyes lit up even more than they had already been.

               "A Firebolt," he said. Azera could tell that he favored his broom above all his other possessions. 

               "Wow," she said softly. "That must be amazing, flying on a broom like that."

               "It _is,_" Harry agreed. "Sometimes when it's dark out and I go out onto the pitch to practice, its like I'm a bird or something stupid like that, and you forget that there's a ground under you and its like your suspended in space and you can just float there forever," he added. _Is he starting to confide in me already? _Azera thought. _Fool-boy. He's as stupid as his parents were. _

But, the friendly Azera seized the opportunity. "I'd like to feel like that sometime. There are so many things to worry about here! Homework and essays and…boys," she said, almost choking on the sickening syrupiness of the last word. Acting like this had its lows, but Harry was buying it like cheap candy. A blush rose to his cheeks as he pondered her statement.

               "Yeah, you get overloaded pretty quickly, and yeah there is the g-girls," he said. Potter couldn't even keep his cool. _He will be so easy to do away with…_

_               Dammit. Does he have a girlfriend?_

               "You got a girlfriend?" Azera blurted before slipping back into character. Harry's cheeks burned as bright as Weasley hair.

               "Sort of," he said reluctantly. "She's not really, but she kind of is."

               _Oh. I get it._

"Oh," Azera said, trying to sound as disappointed as she could. _LIKE I couldn't get better than this pre-teen! _She scooted closer to him in her chair and nudged his foot with her toe, grazed her hand across his knee, and flipped her hair slowly over her shoulder. He looked like a frog about to drool. She batted her eyelashes and almost laughed out loud at the expression on his face. _I guess he's not used to having girls throw themselves at him…pity. He'll never have anyone do it outside me! Where's Draco? Why am I wasting my time here…? _"What's her name?" she said curiously.

               "Cho Chang." _The nemesis has a name. _Azera sighed. _Is she as pretty as me? _she though sarcastically. _She'll never be able to take you higher… _

               But, Azera had dealt with worse before. All she needed to do was break them up and get her fingernails even deeper under Potter's skin. Then, her mission was as good as dead. 

            In the second of two successive, depressing, almost-Draco-free days, Azera sat writing him an owl when Harry stepped into the room alone, which was very unusual. She was the only one in the common room besides Potter and it took him a moment for him to notice her. Azera covered up the note as he caught sight of her, smiled, and then came closer. "Hey, Azera," he said warmly, sitting on the edge of the table that she was sitting at. She scrawled a hasty _Love, Azera _on the note and then tied it to the owl's leg. 

               "Hey Harry," she said.

               "I was thinking," he said, watching the owl melt into the shadows, "I feel like a spin on my broom. Want to come with me?"

               _Yes, finally he's making a move on me! _"Sure, I'd love too," Azera said, rising from her seat and slipping her robes back onto her shoulders. Harry disappeared into the dormitories for a moment, which Azera took advantage of and cast several spells onto herself to make her hair shinier and softer and to make herself smell nicer. A minute later he came out, his broom and _an Invisibility Cloak clutched in his hand._

Azera tried to calm herself down while arranging herself in a more flirtatious pose. _There is no way he could have gotten my Cloak. It's magically locked into the trunk at the edge of my bed in the **girls' dormitories, **which boys aren't allowed into. Calm…_

Her breathing returned to normal as Harry approached her, holding out the cloak. "My dad's Invisibility Cloak," he said proudly, sweeping it around the two of them. "No one will be able to see us when we're wearing this," he added as if she was one of his prat friends. He surprised her by taking her hand and leading her down to the Great Hall and then through the grounds to the Quidditch pitch. He took the cloak off and folded it neatly onto the nearest bleacher.

               "I'll watch you for a while," Azera said before he could invite her for a go on the broom. He took the opportunity to show off his amazing skills as she knew he would- Potters never missed an opportunity to show off, ever. He banked and dived and turned over and it was close to an hour later when he came back down to earth. Azera eased her cramped legs from their crossed position as Harry helped her onto the broom. It took a great effort for Azera to pretend to be scared, but she managed to pull it off.

               "You're not going to let me fall, are you?" she said in a half-teasing tone. Harry grinned. 

               "Never," he said. Azera wrapped her arms around Harry's waist, surprised at the muscles that she felt there. She relaxed against his back as he kicked off from the hard ground and went through a tamer rendition of the routine that he had just demonstrated for her. The wind whipped her hair against Harry's cheeks, and Azera was thankful for the spell that she had cast. She pulled herself closer to him as he looped and corkscrewed wildly through the air. Her stomach did a genuine flip as he demonstrated the Wronski Feint for her, and she found herself applauding as they landed.

               "Wow," she said, "that was amazing! You were right about how it felt," she added. "I felt like we were the only two people in the world."

               "Yeah," Harry said, "me too." The silence grew thicker in the air around them for a moment as Azera tilted her head and brought it closer to his, looking up at him through her lashes to gauge his reaction. He looked a little surprised and a tad reluctant, but she knew that the boy in him would win. Boys just don't refuse kisses from beautiful girls even when they have a girlfriend already. 

               The tips of their noses grazed together, and Azera saw him close his eyes. She decided to close hers too as she pushed her lips softly onto his. It took a moment but then she discovered that he was kissing her back. Chow or Chong or whatever her name had been was obviously forgotten as Harry pushed the kiss farther than Draco had bothered too. He pulled her gently against him as he kept it going, and Azera figured that he hadn't had a kiss in a long time, so she decided to favor him. He was a better kissed than she had expected, and it was he that pulled away first, slightly out of breath. He wouldn't lean in for another kiss- Harry was on a typical guilt trip. 


	6. xxx Hit

Assassin's Way Chapter Six: Hit 

**A/N**: drop me a line via the little purplely blue button at the bottom, please. The next chapter is already written (AND it features Draco!), and I will not post it if I don't get reviews! (Pleeeease review…tell your friends to review…I neeeeed it…) *laughs freakily*

**Disclaimer: **durg, I repeat, DURG!  

Azera refused to let herself feel guilty as she met Draco's eyes the next morning during breakfast. He smirked at her from across the room as Pansy grabbed his arm and tried to get his attention. 

She turned away and looked at Harry. He had been avoiding her ever since they had kissed. Azera had seen him talking to an Asian girl before breakfast- that must have been the famous Cho. Cho wasn't the most wonderful looking person in the world, her looks were neither exotic nor alluring, but she had a plain kind of prettiness that boys seemed to like. _Whatever_, Azera thought. _I wonder if they've ever kissed?_

Harry scooted his chair an inch away from Azera's as he reached forward to spoon some porridge onto his plate. Azera let her foot brush his, just to see him suffer. He suffered _wonderfully _too- his face turned all red and he made this funny gurgling noise in his throat. She tried not to let herself laugh at the boy as she took the porridge spoon from him- she wanted him on her side, for a while anyway. 

Azera cornered Harry in the hallway after breakfast, taking his hand firmly but gently and leading him into an empty classroom. "Harry, we need to talk," she said, sitting down on one of the desks. Harry remained standing by the door, looking extremely uncomfortable. She patted the desk next to her in an attempt to get him to relax, and to her relief he complied and slid his books onto the attached chair.

"I get the feeling that you don't want to talk to me much since last night, Harry," Azera began, "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable or anything…and you _were _kissing me back," she continued, raising her eyebrows and grinning at him in a way that made him blush fantastically.

"I just…" Harry began, his voice sounding tired and weighted down. "I have a girlfriend already, and she's great, and I don't want to hurt her or leave her or anything drastic or something but I'm feeling kind of confused and I like you too," he rambled. 

"Shh, calm down," Azera said, sliding her right hand into his left hand, which was lying on his lap. Harry surprised her by caressing her fingers gently with his own. She let herself enjoy the touch for a moment before continuing. "I know how you feel," she lied, "I had a boyfriend right before I came here, to Hogwarts…I think about him a lot." Azera allowed herself to sound extremely pathetic. "He was the only person I ever loved…" she whispered, choking with laughter and instead sounding like she was about to cry. _Wonderful. Now, he'll be a bit jealous and on his guard…_

"You loved him?" Harry echoed her words back at her. __

_Perfect._

"With all my heart," Azera said, forcing her eyes to well with tears. She met Harry's eyes with her blurred ones. He took her other hand. "I'm sorry," Azera said, pulling her hands free and wiping her cheeks with her palms. "I just cry when I think of him sometimes."

"Cho does too, but her boyfriend's dead," Harry said bluntly. 

"Cedric Diggory," Azera nodded. "I heard about him. Everyone did." The silence grew thicker in the room for a moment as Azera leaned forward and plastered a serious look on her face. "I believed what you said about the D- You-Know-Who coming back," she said, almost slipping and calling Voldemort the Dark Lord, which was the name that only Death Eaters referred to him by. "It was foolish for the Ministry to ignore the signs. Look how they got paid back," she said, laughing softly. 

Harry shrugged. 

"That must have been an awful experience for you," she said sympathetically. Harry nodded.

"Yeah, it was awful," he said. "Still is awful. I dream about it sometimes. It was the most horrible experience of my life, as yet," he continued darkly. 

"Don't worry, Harry," Azera said, sliding off the desk and standing in front of Harry. "You fought He Who Must Not Be Named off more than once, you can do it again." She smiled reassuringly. 

"Thanks, Azera," Harry said, standing up. Then he seemed to remember why they had come to the deserted classroom in the first place, and his expression darkened. Azera took the hint and read his thoughts off his face.

"Don't worry, Harry," she repeated in a whisper. She leaned up and kissed him softly on the mouth, her lips slightly parted. "I know you'll make the right choice." She bit her lip as she gathered her books in her arms and walked out of the classroom, leaving Harry to ponder over everything that she had said and done. 

"She kissed me," Azera overheard Harry told Ron as he ran the fingertips of his right hand over his lips, as if to feel her still there. "I just…she confuses me."

Azera stood around the corner from where Harry was discussing his situation with the Weasley boy. She found it amusing to hear him say these things. It was exactly what she had intended, really- it came pretty close to where her goal was set. 

"I think you should go for it," Ron said encouragingly as they walked down the hall. "If Cho is still hung up on Cedric, what else are you supposed to do?"  
  


"I can't just leave Cho out in the cold like that, though, not with Cedric being dead and all."

"Why not? Azera actually likes you. She hits on you. _She kissed you twice. _Why not go for it?" 

_I like this Ron kid, _Azera thought. _At least someone's beating some sense into Harry for me. _

"I _want _to go for it," Harry admitted, "But I don't want to hurt Cho. She's meant too much to me for too long to just dump like that. Although, I can't talk to her or joke around really, since she always starts crying," he said reflectively. "I don't know what to do!"

"Can I have Azera if you don't want her?" Ron asked as they rounded the far corner of the hall.

"No…" Harry's voice faded into the distance as Azera came out of hiding and ran to her class. _Victory! _McGonagall gave her the look of death as she shut the door behind her, a second earlier than class officially started.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Ceallach," McGonagall said in her usual stuffy manner. 

"Your welcome," Azera answered.

"Five points from Gryffindor," McGonagall said automatically. "Today we will be learning a complex spell, so take out your parchment and your quill and write down everything I say exactly as I say it. It will be an imperative part of the N.E.W.T. tests next year, and you will need two years of practice to get this one right, I guarantee it. Start writing…"

Class dragged by slower than it usually did. Azera amused herself by purposefully catching Harry's eye from time to time and giving him little seductive smiles whenever he met her gaze. She could see how tortured she was making him feel, and it was funny as heck. 

She caught him asleep during lunch period, trying to finish an essay that was due later that afternoon for Professor Snape. His cheek was pressed in the ink, blurring the words and leaving little black marks all over his face. Laughing, Azera lifted his head gently off the essay and drew it out from underneath him. With a wave of her wand she produced a wet washcloth in her hand and began stroking the offended cheek with it. He woke up as the water touched his face. "Urgh!" he said, jumping in his chair as he felt the cold water trickled down his neck. 

"You were ruining your essay," Azera said matter-of-factly as she wrung the cloth out into a basin that had just appeared by her elbow. "There's still ink all over your face. Hold still."

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully as Azera dropped the cloth into the basin and spirited the whole thing away. She allowed herself to run her fingers over his dry cheek as she replied. His face showed a mixture of discomfort and welcoming, shyness and the need to be seduced. Azera pulled up a chair and sat down facing Harry, their knees brushing under their robes. 

"Talk to me," Azera ordered. Harry then proceeded to spill his guts out to her, cupping her hands in his the entire time, periodically running his fingers through his hair and looking into her eyes as if to say, 'stop what you're doing to me! It's working!' 

Azera sensed that Harry had just released an incredible amount of pent-up emotion at her. He began talking about Cedric and Voldemort and Cho and Snape and his parents, and tears started forming at the corners of his eyes whenever he thought of how he had seen Cedric's death.

"The thestrals," he moaned, throwing his arms around Azera's shoulders and sobbing into her robes. "I don't want to see them anymore, Azera, I don't want to see them anymore…"

For once, Azera did not feel like a stone-cold assassin. She felt more like a person than she ever had. It was quite a departure than feeling like the same fine-tuned weapon of darkness that she was used to looking at herself as. She stroked his back with her fingertips, trying to soothe the man that had just released sixteen years worth of held in emotion at her, someone he had just met a few weeks ago. "It's okay, Harry," she whispered, pressing her lips into his hair. "It's okay…" Harry took a shuddering breath and leaned away from her. Azera hugged him, trying to press the warmth of her body into his cold skin. She drew her lips across his cheek to his lips and kissed him gently, her fingers still tangled in his hair. "It's okay," she said, almost crying now herself. "It's okay…"


	7. xxx Ecstasy

Assassin's Way Chapter Seven: Ecstasy 

**A/N**: review, you turd! My precious, awful work will be wasted if you fail to review. 

**Disclaimer: **This short little chapter doesn't deserve a disclaimer. Actually, it does, but I'm not going to write it again. You will just have to refer to earlier chapters for that. Haha! You can't sue me, nyah nyah nyah 

               "How could you _do _that?!" Azera shouted at herself later that night. She had just reviewed the mental picture of the hormone-fest that she had taken part in earlier that afternoon and was now kicking herself for it. "Assassins. Don't. Cry," she said a bit more quietly. She was not yet willing to yell out her secret occupation for Moaning Myrtle to hear now, was she? 

               No, she wasn't. 

               "I will not get sentimental. I will not get sentimental," she repeated the mantra to herself as she walked down to dinner. Potter wasn't there. _I bet he's still crying in the bathroom, _Azera thought cruelly. _What a little fool._ She sat down with Harry's friends at the Gryffindor Table, but her eyes were trained on a certain blonde-haired someone sitting across the room. _A little Draco is all I need…_

Draco caught her eye and winked. '_After dinner', _he mouthed at her from the Slytherin Table. Azera nodded and licked her lower lip as she broke her gaze. She thought she saw Hermione staring at her. Azera grinned at her, thoughts running through her head like, _I can't wait until dinner is over I can't wait until dinner is over I can't wait until dinner is over…_

Dinner took absolutely forever to be over, and thankfully Potter was absent for all of it. Azera practically sprinted across the room to get to Draco when the last bit of food had melted from the plates. She grabbed his hand and they went to the classroom that they had took to using to spend 'private time' together. Azera practically tackled him onto the nearest desk and rumpled his hair with her fingers as she ran her other hand down the buttons of his shirt.

               "Whoa," Draco said during a short pause in all the kissing that was going on. "I've missed you too," he said, smirking. 

               "You have no idea," Azera said as she pressed her open mouth against Draco's once again. Their tongues jammed against each other as they sought a higher ecstasy, to make their kisses better than they had ever been before. Draco chewed on her bottom lip as she threw her arms around his neck and stood on her knees, bending down to keep their lips together.

               "I like it when you're like this," Draco said. "It's like your wild or something."

               Azera swung her hair back and tied it in a knot with a rubber band. "Since when have I ever _not _been wild?" she asked teasingly.

               "Well, _more _wild than usual…" He pulled her down and kissed her once again, softer than before. The sun fell below the horizon and it wasn't until the last rays of sun had vanished from the sky that Draco bid her goodnight and left for his own common room. Azera neatened her rumpled hair as she climbed into the portrait hole, wearing what she liked to call her 'innocent Gryffindor' expression. She took note of everyone in the room. Harry and Ron were playing chess by the fire. Hermione was studying (big surprise). Seamus was lounging in one of the armchairs, looking board.

               _Time to make someone's day, _Azera thought, walking towards Seamus and curling up in the chair next to his. "Hey, Seamus," she said. He automatically sat up in his chair and leaned towards her a bit.

               "Hey, Azera," he replied. 

               "So, what did you do today?" she asked.

               "Everything that you did, Azera," he said, looking at her oddly. "We have all the same classes." 

               "Ah, you didn't do _everything _that I did," she said, flirting ridiculously, biting her lip in her favorite innocent looking move. It worked a charm on Seamus. "I'm going to bed," Azera whispered, kissing Seamus lightly before making sure that no one was watching. She allowed her nose to drag across his as she pulled away. "See ya around," she said, doing her best impression of the American models that were on Muggle television as she walked up the stairs, blowing Seamus a kiss as she went into her dormitory. It was so much fun to play with their minds, and the good thing was that she knew that Seamus wouldn't say a word to Harry, and vice versa. These Hogwarts boys were in the healthy habit of not kissing and telling. 

               _That must be why it's so much fun here, _Azera thought as she undressed and pulled on her slip-dress. _You can do whatever the heck you want, have as many affairs as you want, and no one will ever know! I should have come here a long time ago. This is so much more fun than staying in that prison fortress! _She watched the moon dip beneath the sky as she drifted off, and she didn't dream once of Harry or Draco. She dreamed of Cedric. She saw Cedric's death in excruciating detail, from the green blast to Harry, hiding in the graveyard. 

               She sat up with a start in her bed the next morning and ran into the common room. It was still late, but Harry was sitting alone, his head buried in his hands. 

               "Harry," she said, kneeling on the floor in front of him, shaking his shoulder gently. "Harry, wake up."

               "Wha"- he said as he woke with a start.

               "Harry, I had a dream, and it was of Cedric's death and I saw all of it- Harry, _listen to me,_" she said as she saw that Harry was a tad preoccupied with the rather revealing slip that was a tad high cut on the bottom and a tad low cut on the top. "Listen, Harry," she said, tilting his chin up so that his eyes were looking at her face instead of her chest. "_I dreamed of Cedric's death. _I saw everything- I saw you, and Wormtail, and the graveyard," she said, her words blurring together. 

               "Hold on, start over," Harry said, grasping her shoulders in with his two warm, large Seeker hands. Azera grabbed a handful of his robe in her fist.

               "I dreamed of Cedric's death," she whispered, closing her eyes and resting her head on Harry's chest. "It was awful." 

               "I know, babe," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and holding her petite frame close to him. "I know."

               Azera reached her arms around his neck, playing with his hair, which happened to be a valuable comfort source for her. "What where you doing down here, anyway?" she murmured into his chest. Harry exhaled, the force of his breath stirring her hair around her shoulders.

               "I was waiting," he whispered.

               "Waiting for what?" 

               "Waiting for him to come back," he said, leaning his head onto her shoulder and burying his face into her hair. "But he's not going to come back?"

               "Who?" she said, sensing that it was her turn to comfort.

               "Sirius."


	8. xxx Tangles

Assassin's Way Chapter Eight: Tangles 

**A/N**: …

**Disclaimer: **…

               It was a crisp, clear day, and the sky was as blue as it had ever been. The giant squid undulated just below the surface of the water, causing the lily pads to bob up and down, up and down. Fingers raked their way down the length of Azera's hair. "Are you feeling better?" Harry asked from where he sat behind her. Azera shifted on the grass and leaned against his chest, which was surprisingly strong and muscled. She brushed a leaf off his pant leg. 

               "I'm okay," she repeated for about the tenth time that day. She had been unable to fall back to sleep after the dream, and Harry had stayed up with her through the night. They had talked, they had held each other, and she had told him things that she had never said aloud before, but now Azera needed to get away. She felt a little suffocated around Harry now, now that she had remembered that she would have to kill him sooner or later. She put on her seductive face and turned around, straddling his torso with her legs. 

               "Are _you _feeling better?" she asked, running her index finger down the imaginary line that made its way down Harry's breastbone to his belly button. She looked up at him from under her lashes as she placed her hands firmly on his shoulders and leaned forward.

               "I'm fine," Harry said. "I just don't want you having to dream those horrible things." He leaned down to hug her, and their lips and cheeks brushed together.

               It was really hard for Azera's emotions to detach them from Harry when he was doing this. It was supposed to be the other way around. She was supposed to seduce him, trap him on her bed, place a stiletto heel on his chest and slash a knife across his throat, done quickly and as dominatrix-style as possible. _It'll look better this way, though, _Azera thought. _And why can't I allow someone else to do all the work once in a while? _Harry nuzzled her neck. "I'm going to have to get to class soon," Harry said. 

               "Me too, silly, we're in almost all the same classes," Azera said. "It's pretty hard to forget that I'm in the same Potions class as you when I'm doing all your work for you." Harry laughed softly. 

               "Thanks," he whispered, drawing his hand down her jawbone and across her lips. She kissed his fingertips playfully.

               "We gotta get going," she said, standing up abruptly. "Snape doesn't like it when we're late."

               "Yeah," Harry said, gathering his books in the crook of his left arm and slipping his right around her waist and into the front pocket of her jeans that she wore under her robes. His thumb slipped through the belt loop, forcing her to come closer to him. _I have to get him away from me before Draco sees, _Azera thought frantically. Slowly she drew his hand out of her pocket and held it in hers, caressing his fingers as he had done to her so many times. 

               "Harry!" _Thank you, sweet mercy! _Hermione stood on the steps in front of the school, looking slightly bookish as usual. Her eyes passed suspiciously between Azera and Harry as they walked together up the steps. Azera imagined what kind of hysterical conniption the girl would have gone into if she had seen Harry's hand still in the pocket of her jeans. "Do you have any idea how late you are?" Hermione hissed.

               "I dunno, how late?" Harry asked as they approached the Potions classroom.

               "Late!" Hermione insisted as she went in the door. Azera inconspicuously drifted slightly behind so that she wouldn't enter right after Harry.  She couldn't let it look like they had been together.

               Ten seconds later Azera entered the Potions classroom, catching Draco's eye. She rolled her own and looked towards Harry meaningfully. Draco laughed silently and then said something to Crabbe as Azera took her place next to Seamus, who was trying his rather pathetic best to make a move on her. The potion Snape had assigned to them was rather more difficult than the usual mix, and Azera actually spent more than half the class on her mix, periodically pausing to help Harry without Draco noticing. Seamus kept touching her arm, which she found extremely annoying. She came very close to snapping at him the next time he invaded her happy space.

               Harry left Potions class on time, saying that he had to get to the common room to talk to his Quidditch team to discuss strategy. Azera bid him goodbye and waited until he had left the room to saunter over to Draco. "Hey babe," she said, giving him a sensuous hello kiss once she had made sure that Snape wasn't looking. Pansy turned greener than usual at the sight of their overdone P.D.A. and Azera had a hard time not cracking up at the scandalized look on the girl's face. Azera bit Draco's lip at the end of the kiss, and it looked like Parkinson was going to spontaneously combust or something. Draco, exercising less self control than his kissing partner, allowed himself a laugh at Pansy, who was still glaring at Azera. 

               "You dog!" Pansy hissed. Draco's arm slackened around Azera's waist as he watched her face for reaction.

               Azera raised an eyebrow at the girl. She had never expected that Pansy had that much gut in her. "What are you going to do about it?" she scoffed.

               "Duel," she answered shortly. 

               "The girl has balls," Azera said airily, giving Draco a meaningful look and then turning back to the challenger. She spun her wand in her fingers. "Name the place and the time," she said.

               "Midnight. Charm's room." Goyle stepped up behind Pansy and put a hand on her shoulder.

               "I'll second," he grunted. Pansy nodded.

               "Who's your second?" she barked.

               "I don't _need_ a second," Azera shot back. "You'll both be on the floor way before I'm done with you." Azera turned on her heel and marched out of the classroom, thankful that Snape hadn't heard a single word. That guy had to be deaf or something, because he was acting totally oblivious to the things that had been going on in his classroom since Azera arrived.

               "I don't think you should do it."

               "What are you, Harry, my mother?" Azera said, her temper still burning. "That girl thought I needed a second," she said indignantly. 

               "I still don't think you should duel her."

               "What's it to you?" Harry looked wounded. Azera remembered that he was in love with her. "I'll be fine," she said. "You don't think I can beat that oaf and her troll of a second?"

               "I know that you can beat them ten times over before they hit the floor, Azera," Harry said, touching her shoulder. Azera totally despised the melting feeling that she felt at his touch. _Get off, get off! _"It's just that I don't want you to do anything stupid."

               "Like you wouldn't?"

               "Just don't…" Harry sighed. "I just worry about you sometimes. You have this _temper_. I'm worried that you might let it get the best of you."

               Azera was fighting a valiant battle against the hand on her shoulder, and it wasn't going too well. She turned around slowly to face Harry. He was looking into her eyes with this expression that said, 'just let me do it for you, I care for you too much or whatever'. Azera sighed and took his face in her hands. 

               "I won't do anything stupid," she reassured him, kissing him on the cheek. Then she turned, swung on her cloak, and disappeared out the portrait hole. It was time to rumble.

               Pansy was white as Nearly Headless Nick and it was the funniest thing Azera had ever seen. She swung off her cloak and appeared suddenly right in front of her challenger. "Hello, Pansy," she said brightly, her wand out and twirling between her fingers. "Nice to see that you showed up. I didn't expect you to." Azera walked over and received a very nice, rather long kiss from Draco as she went to her end of the room.

               "Okay," Draco said. "Wands at the ready? One, two…"

               Azera put her wand down at her side, just to insult Pansy more.

               "Three!"

               "_Expelliarmus!" _Pansy shouted. Azera ducked the spell easily and pointed her wand at the girl. 

               "_Petrificus Totalus!" _She said, petrifying the girl. Azera smiled in a satisfied way and walked slowly over to Goyle, who looked like he was about to wet his pants. A grin to rival Draco's spread across her face. "And for you," she said, placing the tip of her wand on the Slytherin crest of Goyle's robes- "_Tarantallegra."_ The troll was thrown into a hilarious clumsy tap dance that sent him spiraling out of control across the room. His arms spiraled out and almost hit several onlookers as he wheeled around the room. Draco smiled.

               "Well done," he said, watching Goyle spin. She leaned up and their mouths met again, making Azera's body tingle. If Pansy could have shouted, she would have. 

               "I'm not going to push this to the death, as I usually would," Azera said, walking over to Pansy and freeing her from the bind. "Just don't cross my path again. _Finite,_" she said softly. Goyle stopped dancing, to the onlookers' disappointment. "Bye, Draco," she said as she left the classroom. Letting Draco go without a kiss made her feel a bit liberated. Draco wasn't that much to her, he provided a good kiss and a hot smile, and he was indeed valuable to have around, but he was disposable. As disposable as any of the other men that Azera had dated. It was fun to tease him, too. 

               Harry had waited up for her. He was sitting in the same chair that he had been sleeping in the night before, his hair mussed and hanging over his glasses as usual. Azera walked over, her footsteps silent on the thick carpet of the common room. He didn't notice her as she sat down next to him. He had been sleeping.

               Azera gently brushed his hair out of his eyes and examined the sleeping face. Harry looked young and vulnerable when he was asleep. As she bent down to kiss the sleeping figure, Harry stirred and woke up. "Hey, Azera," he said groggily. "How was the duel?"

               "Easy, as I expected," she said, curling up on Harry's lap and resting her head on his shoulder. "A tap-dancing Goyle is the funniest thing you will ever see."

               "You didn't injure anyone?" Harry asked in a bemused tone of voice as he wrapped his arms around Azera's shoulders and leaned his head on hers. 

               "Unfortunately, no," she answered, absentmindedly playing with the collar of the shirt that Harry was wearing beneath his robes as Harry slid her arms under her own robes in order to get a more secure grip on her waist. The hem of her shirt rode up slightly, and the skin of his palm touched the small of her back. Harry's hands were warmer than she had expected as they left little tingling sensations across the naked skin of her back. He pulled her close, closer than they had ever been before. She could smell his aftershave as she buried her face into his neck, giving in, a hopeless case of falling for your enemy.

               _How am I ever going to get this done? _She thought as Harry removed a hand from her back and tilted her chin up so that he could kiss her. _How am I ever going to do this? _His tongue touched her bottom lip, and the Death Eater within screamed bloody murder. Silent tears slid down Azera's cheeks and onto her lips as they kissed, the tears tasting salty on her tongue. Harry reached up and wiped the tears away with his thumb, the tip of his finger trailing across the ends of her eyelashes. A sob welled in Azera's throat, and she tried her best to fight it down as Harry pulled away. 

               "Azera?" Harry said, holding her face in both hands.

               "Harry," Azera choked out, grabbing his robes with her fists and crying into his shoulder, necking him like there was no tomorrow. Then she remembered about Cho.

               _I let this man see me cry._

Azera pulled away, glaring at Harry as she did, her eyes still teary and bloodshot. She angrily wiped the tears away as she let go of him, stumbling as she leaned away, realizing that she had been leaning on him the entire time. Harry gave her a puzzled look.

               "Go back to your Cho," she said in a kind of quiet bitterness as she walked up the stairs to the girls' dormitories.

               "Azera, wait," Harry said, scrambling up the steps. The steps immediately melted into a slid, which caused Azera to involuntarily slide back down the ramp and back into Harry's arms.

               "Get away," she said, pushing herself away from him, but Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

               "Azera, tell me what's wrong," he said as Azera angrily banged her wand on the slide, willing it to turn back into stairs. 

               "Everything," she said as she wrenched her arm from his grip and sprinted up the stairs to her room before he could chase her again. He didn't move from where he was standing, staring up at the door that she had slammed practically in his face. 

               _That girl, _he thought in a mixture of disgust, anger, pleasure, and pride. _That girl. _


	9. xxx Ice

Assassin's Way Chapter Nine: Ice 

**A/N**: This chapter is dedicated to dxdevlin, who has so far left exactly half of the reviews on this entire story to date. 

**Disclaimer: **^! @#$%^&*() 

               Pansy looked like she was totally ready to screw Azera to the best of her abilities as her offender walked into Potions the next afternoon. Azera tried to ignore the death glares from both Harry and Pansy as she took her place next to Seamus, who was the only one being nice to her today. "Hey, Azera," he said brightly.

               "Hi Seamus," Azera said miserably.

               "Are you okay? You look upset."

               Azera sighed heavily and looked into Seamus's eyes as if to evaluate how much she could trust him. "I just…" she broke off, thinking of the events from the last night and the following morning. "I just have a lot of stress on my shoulders," she said, reminded of the feeling she got when Harry touched her. Her back burned where his fingers had pressed into her skin, needing just a little more.

               That morning, Harry had met Cho outside of the Great Hall for breakfast. They were all smiling at each other and putting their arms around each other's waists and everything. Azera had skipped breakfast.

               To her surprise, Seamus was giving her a hug. _It's better than nothing_, a weary voice said inside her head. She was ready to accept any source of comfort at the moment. Seamus squeezed his arms around her shoulders and gave her a friendly kiss on the forehead as he pulled away. "Everything's going to be okay," he said.

               "Thanks, Seamus," she said sincerely. "I'm glad I have someone to talk to."

               "Anytime," he said, squeezing his arms around her shoulders and giving her a friendly kiss on the forehead. "Everything's going to be okay," he said.

               "Thanks, Seamus," she said sincerely. "I'm glad I have someone to talk to."

               "Anytime," he said. A little smile crossed Azera's face as she dumped a bottle of ground bezoar into her cauldron and then handed the flask to Seamus. _Is he my only friend? _She thought miserably as she heard Harry laughing at one of Ron's jokes. _It sure looks that way._

Draco turned around and tried to catch her eye, but Azera simply wasn't in the mood. She knew firsthand how many girls besides Pansy Parkinson wanted Draco for themselves. She ignored him and added the next ingredient, the icy eyes boring a hole into her heart from the front of the room. 

               On the other hand, she knew how much Draco wanted her. She was really the only one that was up to his level in so many things, and she provided for him a pleasure that he felt he was entitled to. _Let him suffer. He deserves to be brought down a bit. _She tactfully ignored him for the rest of the class and fled straight to the common room after class, still not hungry, to work on her Transfiguration essay. Harry stopped by before dinner to drop of his books, and Azera could feel him staring at her from across the room. She kept her eyes glued to her parchment as she felt Harry pass her and then walk out the portrait hole. _Finally, some alone time,_ she thought, throwing down her quill. The point bounced off the parchment, leaving a spot of ink. She fixed it with a wave of her wand as the portrait hole opened again.

               It was Harry's friend, Ron, the redheaded Weasley boy. He came over to where Azera was sitting and sat stubbornly in front of her. She ignored him.

               "Azera," he said.

               "What?" she muttered.

               "Why are you angry with Harry?"

               Azera laughed. "Is he such a baby that he has to send his friends to talk to me? If he wants to ask me a question, he can come here and ask me to my face. I'm not sending message like some grammar-school preteen, Weasley," she said. Ron scrunched his nose up as he looked at her.

               "He knows that you won't talk to him," Ron said.

               "Damn right," Azera retorted, returning her gaze to her essay. 

               "Can't you just tell me, then, Azera?" Ron asked. "He really cares about you, and he's worried about you. You're like a ton of different people in one body."

               Azera paused. "Let me tell you something about Harry," she said, putting her quill down. As she did so, she felt a current of air move past her ear. Ron had been sitting still in his chair for the entire time. She glared suspiciously at Ron as she leaned over the desk and prodded the air next to where he sat. _What a b-_

"Harry," she said as she plucked an Invisibility Cloak out of the air. Harry appeared next to Ron, looking a bit guilty. Azera stared at him for a moment, and then rumpled the cloak in her hands at threw it back at him.

               "You're even less of a man than I thought," Azera hissed, gathering her papers and storming out of the portrait hole. 

               "Azera, wait!" Harry yelled after her.

               "Right, it's not what it looks like, I know!" Azera cried at the Fat Lady, who was looking a bit shocked. Azera dropped her papers into the nearest coat of armor and roamed the halls restlessly, like a tiger looking for prey. She wandered down to the Slytherin wing, earning glares and murmurs of questions from passerby. Azera marched boldly up to the wall in which the Slytherin door was concealed. She banged angrily on the door with her fist. "Draco!" she yelled at the stone. "Draco, let me in! _Now!" _

               The wall slid open. A perplexed Draco stood on the other side. "Azera," he said smugly, as if he knew that she would come to him. "Come in." 

               Azera stepped through the door. The stone slid shut behind her, leaving her backed against the wall facing a roomful of Slytherins. Azera was willing to bet anything that this common room had never seen a Gryffindor past the sliding wall before. Draco smoothly took her hand and led her through the room across to the roughly hewn stone steps that spiraled upwards. He led her up the stairs until they reached the first landing. The steps continued to spiral up into the fortress-like wall. Draco opened the door off the stairs and beckoned Azera inside. The lavish dormitory was empty. Thick green sheets upholstered in silver covered the mahogany four-poster beds. Draco nonchalantly swung his cloak off his shoulders and tossed it onto one of the beds. He then turned to face his visitor.

               "What brings you to the Slytherin Tower?" he asked, shutting the door. The room was fairly dark, save for a stream of moonlight that filtered through the window. 

               "I needed to see someone, anyone," Azera said, "I needed to get away from Potter." 

               "Mm, I see," Draco said absentmindedly. "He is a prat, isn't he?"

               "The worst."

               "I can help you feel better," Draco said simply, fiddling with the buttons of his shirt, which had already become half undone. His hand left his shirt buttons and went to Azera's shoulders, pushing off the folds of the robe. The black material fell to the floor around her feet as Draco wrapped his arms around her body and tackled her gently onto the bed. Azera undid the remainder of the buttons and tossed the shirt to the ground, holding her body against Draco's naked skin. 

               "Draco," she murmured, his hands tracing over the thin material of her blouse to find the buttons. Skin pressed against skin as her shirt loosened around the upper half of her body. 

_*I don't think you should do it. *_

Fireworks exploded in front of Azera's eyes, her fingers tangled in Draco's hair, as their lips met in a fury which she had never even imagined. 

               __

_               *It's just that I don't want you to do anything stupid. *_

Draco buried his face in her neck, his lips tracing lines across her jaw and her half-exposed collarbone. He grabbed a fistful of her shirt as he squeezed her hand so hard that her fingers were jammed together.

_               *Azera, tell me what's wrong. *_

               She felt Draco inch his hands up the back of her shirt. Her hair had come loose of its tie, and it was swinging in his face. He pressed her impossibly close against him as they rolled over on the bed, their hands tangled up in each other's hair and in the belt loops of their jeans.

_               *Azera, wait. *_

Draco once more began fumbling for her shirt buttons.

               _*Azera, wait. *_

"Harry," Azera whispered.

_*Azera, wait. * _

"Wait."

"What?" Draco said, looking up. He had half of the buttons of her blouse undone, and she could see the top of her bra peeking out from her shirt in the darkness. She shifted on the bed, disentangling her limbs from Draco's. "Azera, what are you doing?" he said, his voice cracking slightly under the burden of how much he wanted her body at that moment.

"I don't want this," she said, gesturing at the both of them, "to just be about kissing and…and skin," she said, doing up the buttons of her shirt and then running her hands over the smooth skin that stretched over Draco's muscular arms. Her fingers ran down the sides of his stomach and came to rest just above the belt of his pants. She nestled her body against his, feeling his warmth creep through her clothes to a place that no man could ever touch. "I don't want what we were about to do," she said honestly.

"Why?" Draco asked.

               "Because. I just don't," she said. "I want _you_…more than you can imagine, I expect…but I don't want…that would be too complicated," she finished, leaving the unfinished fragments hovering in the air between them.

               Draco blinked, and then slid his hand up the curve of her thigh and over the length of her arm to her chin, which he lifted towards him. He bent down and they kissed slowly. Her tongue blindly traced along the curve of his lips in the first kiss that they had shared which was something more than just a kiss. This was realer than that.

               "I love you, Azera," Draco said.

               "I love you too," she responded, her fingertips caressing the skin of his bare chest, her arms wrapping around him to keep him warm, to lend him some of what she had to give. She kissed the tip of his nose and raked her hands through his hair, which shimmered slightly in the moonlight. 

               Azera slowly drifted off to sleep, her head resting on Draco's collarbone and her arms still wrapped around him. Her bare foot rode slightly up the leg of his trousers in her sleep, pushing the material up. Draco sighed and ran his arms through hers, so that his upper arm rested under her armpit. He let their noses touch in the darkness, and then he too fell to sleep in the darkness of the Slytherin 6th year dormitory.


End file.
